We here at the League of Independent Voters are not willing to stand there and take what this guy is taking. Are you?

While the country appears irreversibly divided, many ordinary citizens are coming to us and asking "how can I become an independent?" Who knows, maybe there's a chance to save the republic before the two parties' war on each other destroys us and our system of government based on consensus.

What are Texas officials doing? They are locked in fake fight -- the "great potty political debate" (the bathroom bill) -- at the same time an immense and truly immoral transfer of wealth is happening right under their noses. That transfer is the mass movement by profiteers of groundwater (our most valuable Texas resource) to the growth corridors by abusing government condemnation of private property to make it happen. We call it eminent domain for private gain. Millions of people are facing unaffordability, aquifers we depend on face damage or depletion, and the next generation's future is stolen.

Lt. Governor Dan Patrick's appointee, Senator Charles Perry (R-Lubbock), will be rolling out his omnibus water bill, likely on the last day to file a bill -- March 10th. (UPDATE: the bill was released on March 7th -- more coming soon!) Perry held closed interim hearings throughout 2016 and is -- unbelievably -- keeping his bill secret. Texas House Speaker Joe Straus has also appointed water grabbing Rep. Lyle Larson (R-San Antonio) to chair the House Natural Resources Committee. He's the guy who wantonly calls landowners “Balkanizers” if they do not want to sell their water, as if they are wrong-headed rebels who just won’t get with the program. Larson just introduced a bill (HB 2948) to add yet another layer of bureaucracy to the convoluted water code, we suspect for the purpose of adding more opportunities to game it.

You're probably asking yourself, who do these people think they are? The real question is who do we think WE are?

Come join us to answer both those questions! We humbly request that you show up at these urgently important TWO events -- regardless of your party persuasion or who you voted for in the last election:

Please register NOW! Click on the links for each event below for March 24th & 25th

Come to this! Our Water, Our Land and Our Elections Lobby Day --Friday, March 24th. Reserve a seat NOW for this FREE event at the Capitol. It's from 10 to 4, but show up at noon if you can. For details:

Come to this the next day, Saturday, March 25th:Texas Populism Conference: Building the Independent Rural-Urban Alliance at McKinney Roughs Nature Trail in Cedar Creek. It's just $25, including lunch, or $15 and you can bring your own. For more info:

Both these events (on Friday, March 24th and Saturday, March 25th) are all about our signature issues here at the League of Independent Voters:

Ending the water grabs,

Ending eminent domain for private gain, and

Opening up our electoral process to competitive elections, thereby freeing the millions of Texans who call themselves simply "independent" to exercise their power as voters for change. (Read about Texans for Electoral Competition here).

The March 25th conference will begin with this question:

►Can citizens from across partisan lines – rural and urban -- work together with both major parties increasingly at war? Or are we just beating our heads against the wall? Let's discuss, you decide.

The League is also establishing a writing team for the independent movement. If you're interested, give us a call or reply to this message.

Please share these events widely. Get a move on, you little dogies. United we stand, divided we fall, y'all.